Is anyone else sitting watching the NBA Playoffs thinking about what might have been if the Suns pulled the trigger on an Amare for KG trade?

With the dog days of summer coming much earlier this year than previous years (thanks Suns I now have no real excuse to keep my fiance from changing the channel to So You Think You Can Dance) the mind can’t help but wander to thoughts of how things could have been different. How one choice could have completely altered the future of a franchise.

Let’s hop in the way back machine to June 2007. Hillary Clinton was the democratic favorite, Bon Jovi had the top pop album (I did say 2007 not 1987 right?), gas was $3.16 a gallon and Mike D’Antoni and the Suns were dreaming up ways to win an NBA Championship.

Like every summer there were trade rumors running rampant about Kevin Garnett but this time they seemed for real. The most intriguing of these rumors was Amare Stoudemire heading to Atlanta as part of a three-way deal that would net the Suns KG and Minnesota would have received the number 3 and 11 picks in that summer’s draft.

A perfect deal for everyone involved, Coach D’Antoni and the Suns get their missing piece to the championship puzzle, Atlanta gets a great talent to play with Joe Johnson and Minnesota gets the ability to rebuild their floundering franchise. The only problem? Steve Kerr and the Suns preferred to trade Shawn Marion over dealing Amare.

Hindsight is 20-20 and plenty of people were against the trade including myself (June 21, 2007 on KG to Suns Rumor: “Make this happen Kerr and you will be the first UofA guy to be a god in the Tempe/Phoenix area. Get it done Steve …… as long as it doesn't cost Amare.”). If only Kerr and everyone else knew what was to come.

Instead of KG to Phoenix he headed to Bean Town (Like they really needed another championship caliber team) and the Suns off-season included acquiring Brian Skinner and Grant Hill.

The Suns looked like they lacked energy and were disinterested in the season, Shawn Marion gets dealt for an aging Shaquille O’Neal and his $20 million dollar salary. The Suns fall in the standings and meet the Spurs in the first round and lose and Mike D’Antoni gets fired quits.

Now the franchise stands at a defining moment with an aging roster of high-priced fading superstars, trying to find a new coach and identity and with the chance of losing Amare Stoudemire to free agency after the 2009-2010 season.

They say life is all about the choices. If the choice had been made to bring KG to the desert the Suns are probably in the Western Conference finals right now and the Celtics are probably sitting at home watching Lebron and the Cavs take on the Pistons.

Alas the Suns didn’t make that choice and are faced with a new set of choices this off season. Let’s hope that the choices Steve Kerr makes this time around lead to a better result.

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